PROVIDENCE — There are only so many times you can see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra before you get completely sick of them. Then, after you see them a few more times, you begin to recoil at the things you would change, enjoy the things you can’t change, and get the wisdom to tell the difference.

Journal photo / Ruben W. Perez

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra performs as they are enveloped in light and smoke during last night's show at The Dunk.

Yesterday’s matinee show at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center was part of the arena-rock Christmas spectacular’s 10th anniversary tour, and all of the TSO elements were in place: dizzying metal takes on classical music (the band was formed as an outgrowth of the metal band Savatage), eye-popping special effects and cheesy theatrics all combine for two-plus hours of Christmas cheer that’s treacly, heartwarming, pompous and impressively accomplished all at once.

As usual, the first half of the show was a loosely held together Christmas story set to music from the TSO’s three Christmas records, in which we get a down-on-his-luck guy in a bar on Christmas Eve; an angel touring the world in search of the meaning of Christmas and who shows it; and a girl trying to make it back home for the holiday.

It’s all narrated by Bryan Hicks, seemingly on the verge of tears for the entire hour-plus show, although he hasn’t got much to work with in the way of script: cheesy Hallmark-style couplets and a dramatic structure that’s barely coherent. Steve Broderick’s hobo ended up telling more than half the story in one song.

But there were plenty of other theatrical elements to work with: a spectacular light show, snow from the ceiling, enough smoke to nearly obscure one side of the Dunk from the other by the end of the show. It’s dazzling, and so is the music when the band gets to sink its teeth into something such as “The March of the Toy Soldiers” or “Queen of the Winter’s Night.” “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24,” — a melding of “Carol of the Bells” and “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” — was the musical highlight of the first half, but the story-advancing power ballads and the endless narration got in the way of the momentum.

Jay Pierce had the strongest voice of the bunch, however, and he got to tear into “Prince of Peace” (using the melody of “The Holly and the Ivy”) and “Good King Joy,” the verses of which were one of the few examples of swing in the heavy-rock set, and Adrienne Warren was powerful during “Promises to Keep.”

After a series of band introductions (no intermission this time; the evening show was fast approaching), the TSO got down to what they do best: roaring through the top 40 of classical music with a pair of fleet-fingered guitarists (yesterday, Chris Caffery and Alex Skolnick) and violinists (Roddy Chung and Anna Phoebe, also quarterbacking a local string section for added oomph). The addition of a second violinist made for a good symmetry, as they paired off with the guitarists as often as with each other, and their bow tosses to each other were a visual highlight of the first half.

TSO cofounder Paul O’Neill took the stage briefly to thank the crowd and to remind them of the passing of 15 years since the death of Savatage guitarist Criss Oliva, and make a quick instrumental cameo.

The set list of the second half contained a few lesser-known songs, but the hits were there, including takes on Beethoven’s Fifth, Pachelbel’s Canon and a reprise of “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24” that saw Caffery and Phoebe run the length of the Dunk to ascend a mid-floor platform that raised them nearly to the roof while flames and fireworks erupted from the stage.

They don’t do the phrase “over the top” in the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and when you put the staging together with the music, and add the good-hearted intentions and Caffery’s antic humor, you can shake your head at the overblown nature of the whole thing and yet not suggest they change a thing.

rmassimo@projo.com